Illness Documentary No. 2: Shield Your Eyes

Illness present their 2nd documentary film; this time their subject is recent tourmates and STA favourites Shield Your Eyes.

This is a short documentary I made about the UK band, Shield Your Eyes, consisting of an even mix between live footage and mechanical intuition, before a full performance of their song, 'Come On Melissa Are You A Kisser'.

The band have recently released their third album, 'Theme From Kindness', available through their Myspace or through Function Records, and they are constantly touring the UK and Europe.

'Come On Melissa Are You A Kisser' is available on their first album, 'Shield Your Eyes', also available via the band's myspace.

This is the second of hopefully many short band documentaries by Illness, and is edited in part by Stef from Shield Your Eyes.

Shield Your Eyes Documentary from Illness on Vimeo.

Cargo Collective October 2010

STA Recommends

Shrag
Life! Death! Prizes!
Where Its At Is Where You Are CD
SHRAG are "bringing analytical attitude to the debased trade of pop and serving it up with bulldozing portions of raw guitar noise" MARVELLOUS

DD/MM/YYYY
Black Square
Invada CD
A hybrid of Devo, Melt Banana, Janes Addition, Fugazi and the math rock genre mixed in a blender. Noise rocks by way of an amalgamation of influences.

Her Name Is Calla
The Quiet Lamb
Denovali CD
"…there can be no denying that Her Name Is Calla are one of the most daring, unconventional bands the UK has to offer right now." (Drowned in Sound)

Shield Your Eyes
Theme from Kindness
Function LP/CD
Like a stack of classic rock and blues tapes slit into pieces and reassembled Via some fragmented rhythmic interplay into something mind-bogglingly fresh and unique.

Illness: Tour & Recording Write-up

Hi blog-readers,

I have been desperate to tell you all about our touring and recording experience....

We went on tour and had a good time. We went with Shield Your Eyes and NOPE. Both bands are really good, I highly recommend that you check them out. It was really satisfying to watch them both play every night for about ten days. We also played with a couple of other really good bands, one in Glasgow called Eternal Fags and one in Leeds called Ultimate Thrush, both of whom are part of a Glasgow based DIY collective called Winning Sperm Party who put on shows and do free digital releases or genuinely cheap CD's - truly independent! So check all that stuff out. I spent a lot of time worrying about my thumb in which I believe I'm developing arthritis, and at one point we had to change the brake pads on the van like true lads, a task undertaken primarily by Stef from Shield Your Eyes, but with at least some input from everyone along the way, even Spencer who found the cap of the copper rubbing right at the last minute. Everyone we came across along the way was so genuine and generous, and it was a completely conflict free experience - YES to humanity!

We then went straight to Derry (NI) to do some recording and had a good time. We recorded twelve tracks with Andrew Ferris (Lord STA) and Chris Cassidy, who were the best recording team we possibly could have hoped for. It all went swimmingly well and is looking due for release as an album around February time. Ash Pocock made a special guest appearance and took us out for an all you can eat Chinese meal, which I came away from feeling kind of hyper and with a pounding heart.


Later in the week Spencer and I went to see Toy Story 3. I tried not to cry during the film but was ecstatic about the ticket price: £4.50! And on a Saturday night to boot! That's what the cinema should cost... in Brighton it's at least £7.50 a pop. Anyway... again, all parties involved went above and beyond the call of duty in accommodating us and in making sure that we made the best of the recording experience. We can't thank Andrew and Chris enough for their enthusiasm and generosity. They are both bastions of a moral disposition which finds its foundations in empathy, benevolence and supreme good will - YES to humanity!

Thanks for reading,

GIFTS FROM GOD EP - IN STOCK!

50 copies in a beautifully decorated, ex-industrial ice cream tub, ready to take on the road...

Illness July Tour Poster

Smalltown America Podcast June 2010 - Illness

Emilio & Spencer Illness play some of their favourite tracks and talk about their forthcoming tour with Shield Your Eyes and their 'Gifts From God EP' out on July 5th.

Tracklisting:

Illness - Old Song

Shield Your Eyes - Oranges

Soccer 96 - Super Warrior

Perch - Lilo

Dan Amos - See What I Can Do
P for Persia - Cliche

Subscribe to the podcast feed for automatic updates from all our artists.

Download now or listen on posterous

Smalltown America Podcast June 2010 - Illness 2.m4a (13171 KB)

Illness' first blogging experience...

Hello STA blog readers,

I wanted to let you know that the documentary I made about the Brighton band, P for Persia (mentioned on this blog on 1st June) has moved to a slightly new virtual location where it can be enjoyed at a higher pixellation and consistent screen resolution. WATCH IT HERE. I know that some of you will be desperate to access such a fine viewing opportunity, and we like to listen to our fans.

It also looks like our UK tour with Shield Your Eyes and Nope is finally in place, albeit a few changes to the schedule. Dates confirmed so far are now as follows:

7th July: Mitchells - GLASGOW

8th July: Henry's Cellar Bar - EDINBURGH

9th July: Dog and Partridge - BOLTON

12th July: The Red House - SHEFFIELD

13th July: Windmill Hill Golf Club - BLETCHLEY, MILTON KEYNES

14th July: The Port Mahon - OXFORD

15th July: The Hydrant - BRIGHTON

16th July: Brudenell - LEEDS
17th July: 1 in 12 Club - BRADFORD

So please come to see us play in a city near you...trust me, you want to check out Shield Your Eyes live!

Emilio from Illness

Free Illness Show This Thursday

Illness play a free London show this Thursday with the incredible Pneu and future tourmates Shield Your Eyes.

Ice, Sea, Dead People Receive NME Endorsement

The love-hate (mostly hate) relationship between STA and the NME has been written about before but at the moment we're leaning more towards love after we spotted this call out for Ice, Sea, Dead People's show at the Macbeth in London next Tuesday night.


That Fucking Tank, Shield Your Eyes and The Patio Set are also on the bill.

Public Service Blogcast Episode 33

This episode: former guitarist/shouter of Help She Can't Swim and current bedroom avant-pop wonder Tom Denney aka Lonely Ghosts takes over for the first of this Easter weekend's blogcasts, presenting fantastic new LG tracks and choice cuts from his One Inch Badge Records labelmates.

If you've missed Lonely Ghosts at recent STA shows be sure to check out one of the following upcoming dates...

21 Apr - Buffalo Bar w/ Cutaways - London
1 May - Tropical Hotdog @ Island Bar w/ Sunset Cinema Club, 4 Or 5 Magicians - Birmingham
2 May 2009 - Major/Minor @ The Flying Duck w/ Peter Parker - Glasgow
3 May 2009 - Head of Steam - Newcastle
14 May 2009 - Great Escape Festival - Brighton
15 May 2009 - 90 Free Friday @ 93 Feet East (FREE SHOW) - London
23 May 2009 - Dark Party @ Manhatan’s - Luton

Public Service Blogcast Episode 33
31 minutes 40 seconds
Recorded 07/04/09
Tracklisting
00.11 Lonely Ghosts - Ghosts Of Mice (from Return From The Search Party album - OIB Records)
03.16 Pseudo Nippon - Constellation Jebubu (from Edamame Freakout EP - OIB Records)
06.48 Nullifier - Convectors
12.14 Shield Your Eyes - Sound The Alarm (from Shield Your Eyes album - Run For Your Life)
15.52 Mewgatz - Photocopy (from Love Songs & Car Boot Electronica album - OIB Records)
20.34 Transfere Project - Let's Not Cut Those Lines
23.13 Pope Joan - Centurion (from Centurion/Volumes single - OIB Records)
28.07 Lonely Ghosts - Come Down From The Mountain (from Return From The Search Party album - OIB Records)

If you have any suggestions for future takeovers or want to get a track played on a regular show, get in touch - email blogcast@smalltownamerica.co.uk.

Public Service Blogcast Episode 19

Vote Fighting With Wire!

Public Service Blogcast Episode 19
33 minutes 43 seconds
Recorded 02/02/09
Tracklisting
00.29 Shield Your Eyes - Shame It Didnt Work Out (from self-titled album - Run For Your Life Records)
03.47 We Stole Cairo - Back To Basics (previously unreleased)
05.58 Straylings - Animal Flag (from self-titled EP - self-released)
09.08 Arms - Kids Aflame (from Kids Aflame album - Melodic Records)
12.39 Chik Budo - Disappear (previously unreleased)
17.59 Javelins - Roman Saints (from Heavy Meadows album - Suburban Sprawl Music)
23.41 Operahouse - 100 Years (free download - Marrakesh Records)
29.46 Telegraphs - What's So Good About Goodbye (free download - from forthcoming We Were Ghosts album - Small Town Records)

If you have any feedback or want to get a track played, get in touch - email blogcast@smalltownamerica.co.uk

Weekend Fun

In London this weekend and lacking some way to occupy your Saturday afternoon?

Check it out:



On top of three great bands you also get me DJing, the quality of which (Kev BSM really has no idea what he's letting himself in for) will depend on how much cider I have beforehand. YUM YUM.

I'm off on holiday to New York on Sunday (nicely coinciding with CMJ), and there's no better way to do an early morning transatlantic flight than with a hangover... right? Should be a blast though, on top of there being about six shows a day I want to go to Fighting With Wire, Hooray For Humans and We Versus The Shark are all going to be there as well. STA 4 NYC 4 LYFE.